Ryan Spadola went into practice with the New York Jets Friday morning, Aug. 30 like it was any other day.

But this was far from the normal day. It was the final day of pre-season practice, the last day of cuts before the final roster for the regular season would be established.

"Friday was a tough day," Spadola said. "I knew it was the last time the 75 of us would be practicing together as a team."

If a coach approached a player for an individual meeting, their NFL dream was finished.

"All day I was just hoping nobody came up to me and said follow me back into this room, that's how you know it's over," Spadola said.

He was not one of these players. Friday evening after practice, the Jets signed him as a member of the final 53-man roster.

"I'm still kind of stuck in that surreal mindset," Spadola said. "Obviously there's been months of hard work going into it, but it's been a lot to take in."

Reporters began taking note of Spadola, especially after his break out performance Aug. 24 in the third pre-season game against the New York Giants. In that game, he caught three passes for 110 yards and nabbed his first touchdown on a pass from Matt Simms.

After that game, Spadola started feeling like he had a shot to make the squad.

"I was fortunate enough to have a good preseason game and I was able to make some plays and I was confident I was moving in the right direction, but you never know what might happen," he said. "I'm just grateful and very fortunate that I made the team."

Spadola, who had 232 career receptions for 3,611 yards and 24 touchdowns with the Mountain Hawks, said he hasn't been nervous about making the jump from Lehigh to the pros.

"I mean at the end of the day it's still football," he said. "The physicality and intensity of the game are definitely increased at this level, but the number of fans in the stadium doesn't faze me."

His journey from an undrafted free agent from a mid-major program to signed professional football player is being called one thing again and again- a cinderella story.

"There are always gonna be people doubting you and the odds wont always be in your favor as long as your confident in yourself and your capabilities, that's the most important thing and you'll persevere and come out on top," Spadola said.

The Jets first regular season game is Sept. 8 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at 1 p.m.